A Flower Merchant (3)

With one swift movement, Kou made a simple gesture with his left hand. A warm red aura glowed on his left palm.

He casted it upon the blade of his sword in his right hand, imbuing it with spiritual energy. 

The gesture was a unique hand sign designed to draw power from land spirits, specifically for the purpose of enhancing an object's durability.

The action only took a couple of seconds, roughly the same amount of time for the merchant to cock the gun and pull the trigger. 

The merchant, or now it would be more appropriate to refer to him as the undercover mage, didn't need to worry about killing or making a ruckus. He was sent personally by Clan Head Chen Rongguang; anything he does can be overlooked or reasoned. In addition, the thief is considered a rogue, a pirate, which is classified as an outlaw. 

Bang!

The sound of the bullet releasing was followed by startled screams from nearby pedestrians.

There weren't many people around them, so they were easily spotted, instantly becoming the center of attention. Seeing the pistol held by the mage, they scrambled to flee the scene, some stood frozen, nervously pointing their hands.

Kou was still grinning, He hadn't flinched at all from the shot. He stood as still as he had been previously, his stance relaxing.

The mage widened his eyes.

There were clattering sounds on the ground behind him. He immediately figured out that the thief standing in front of him had deflected the bullet.

Kou had a smug look on his face, amused.

"Hehe."

A powerful mage trained in combat might have a way to enhance their speed by drawing power from spirits. Even then, it is rare to find one that can surpass the speed of bullets. It shows just how terrifying the experiences of a pirate who has faced stormy seas and armies of trained mages can be.

The mage had no time to reload his pistol, and Kou had made his move to lunge forward with his sword.

Changing his tactics, the mage retreated to evade the attack and pulled out his own sword. Taking a few steps backwards, he made the same hand gestures to imbue the sword with spiritual energy.

His movements weren't as fast as the thief, causing him to barely make it in time defending himself against a powerful swing of his opponent's sword.

Whoosh! Clang!

Whoosh! Clang!

Whoosh! Clang!

With each attack, Kou drove the mage backwards, each hit heavier than the last. The mage, struggling to keep up with his speed, was on the defensive side. 

Swoosh!

Kou thrusted his sword forward to throw off the mage. He succeeded as the move had caught him by surprise.

The mage raised his arm to parry, leaving his lower body unprotected. The exposure could have gotten himself killed with a single fatal blow, but the thief's sword never once touched his flesh. Instead, Kou twirled his sword and slashed a large portion of the mage's sleeve cloth.

A few ripped talisman papers, small pouches, and a compass fell out. Kou had torn apart the mage's sleeve pocket, spilling its contents.

Kou took one glance at the scattered items before pointing his sword back at the mage.

He chuckled, "I guess it's in the other one."

The mage glared as he flipped a paper talisman between two fingers in front of his face. He seemed to have caught one of the paper talismans from his sleeve before it was ripped apart.

He muttered a short incantation. Then, the paper glowed a soft yellow.

It was a spell to invoke a sky spirit which caused the talisman to ignite in flames. In a split second, the mage threw the talisman, and it erupted into a larger fire, obstructing the thief's view.

With a flick of his sword, Kou extinguished the flames, but the mage had disappeared.

He had darted off to a nearby street. Kou wasted no time and went after him.

As he stepped into the cobbled street, he found himself in a district with an exquisite labyrinth of narrow alleys, lined with wooden structures adorned with colorful panels. Crimson lanterns swayed gently, casting dappled shadows upon the ground.

The air carried a faint scent of incense and perfume. Courtesans, dressed in silk robes, strolled gracefully along the sidewalks. Harmonious notes of traditional instruments drifted through the air, playing alluring melodies. 

The mage had run into the red light district. It was a clever decision given that the street was packed with people, and there were countless narrow passageways serving as perfect hiding spots.

Although clever, it was an ill-fated choice, as this street was where the thief was most familiar with in the vast land of the Southern Peninsula.

Chunfeng Alley.

Kou grabbed a few paper talismans from his sleeve, scattering them on the ground. He also took out a handful of jasmine petals, rubbing them within his palms before smearing them onto the talismans. Then, he made a couple hand gestures.

"The jasmine scent of an everlasting power must be strong. Go. Find the scent of your own kind," he declared.

The talismans and petals glowed blue subtly and lifted off from the ground, floating and flying off at high speed in different directions. Kou chased after them, carefully observing where they headed to.

Some of the paper and petals landed in flower carts or offerings, but one of them persistently followed a constant direction into an alleyway. Kou followed that one talisman, and it didn't take long before the paper and a single petal stuck to the back of someone's robe.

It had found the mage.

Kou quickly caught up to him. He yelled as he got close, "Slow down, mister! We haven't done our trade!" 

The mage turned his head, a shocked expression on his face. "What trade? I'm not trading with you!"

Kou struck with his sword as he laughed heartily. The mage turned around to defend, clashing his own sword against the thief's.

"Don't be like that! Mister, I know my way around here. If you trade that flower with me, I can get you with the finest, most famous prostitute here in Chunfeng for free!"

Clang!

"A-are you crazy?"

"What? Women don't excite you? What about gold? I can get you some!"

"You mean steal some! I refuse!"

Kou laughed as he jumped around, swinging his sword to aim for the mage's other sleeve. His opponent had positioned his left arm to hide it behind him, out of Kou's reach.

One strike, Kou launched a bluff move, and the mage almost lost his balance. Another strike, and the pressure of the clash made the mage almost fling his sword. 

The attacks were far from violent; instead, they were more playful. There were no signs of bloodlust. All strikes were precise and did not injure the mage once. 

The people around them had long been aware of the fight and they had stepped away as far as they could, trying to avoid getting dragged into it.

But there were also cheers and claps as if they were watching a street show.

"Get him! Get him! Don't let him swing his sword!"

"If you keep up the fight for another thirty minutes, I'll treat you to 3 whole jars of our famous rice wine!"

"Young master, you look very handsome~"

"Master Kou is as strong as always! Come visit our place after!"

It seemed that some residents of Chunfeng were familiar with Kou, which made the mage sweat.

Hearing the crowd, Kou's lips slightly curled up. He put on a show, occasionally playing around with his opponent, earning more cheers.

His aim was also to drain the mage's energy, so that he could steal the flower without having to harm him.

The mage ran past the group of people, trying to shake off the thief. It was a lot harder to do as he had to defend himself from all the attacks.

Kou managed to corner the mage into a dead end, stumbling past a small alley to his right.

But then, something seemed to come out from that small alley.

Thud!

Crash!

Kou stopped his attacks. "What?"

From that small alley, a little girl and a grown man had appeared and crashed directly into the mage. 

A series of groans was heard from the three, tangled together.

The mage had fallen to the ground, while the grown man toppled on top of him, and the little girl scrambled to get up and run away. However the man had grabbed her ankle, causing her to slip. She repeatedly tried to kick the man's arm.

With a gruff voice, the man spat.

"Caught you! You brat!"

Alarmed, Kou pulled the man by his collar. It was as if he acted on instinct without much thought.

"Tch!"

As he struggled against Kou's grasp, the man held on to the girl's ankle. But the threat of his sword made the man let go of the little girl. Kou pulled him back to prevent him from grabbing the girl again.

Noticing the strength of the thief in the pull on his collar, the man's face paled.

Trying to clear up misunderstandings, he cried out, "Sir! I wasn't trying to do anything! That girl stole my money!"

However, Kou never looked at the man once. His eyes were glued to the little girl. He was no longer grinning, only staring quietly as if thinking.

The girl, having been freed from the man's grip, was about to stand up and run away again, but Kou had drawn his sword.

He commanded, "Stay there."

The man was dropped, and he slid away on the ground.

The mage was glad that he seemed to be forgotten by the thief. He was still on the ground and in pain, but he didn't run away, curious to see what the thief was about to do.

Instincts told the girl that she was now in danger.

Thinking that it was because she committed a crime, the girl defended herself.

"He lied! He has a debt to pay!"

Kou held his sword a little tighter.

The girl's expression showed fear, but her eyes persistently met Kou's without looking away.

"It's not that," Kou said. His voice was soft.

He lifted his sword, then struck down towards the girl.

Both the mage and the girl closed their eyes.

Even the man had yelled out, "No! Wait!"

Although he despised her earlier for stealing his money, he did not wish to see a little kid get killed in front of him. 

But just as the sword was about to pierce forward, there was a thunderous roar of clashing metal.

Clang!

It was louder than the previous clashes, sending shockwaves through the air, drowning out all other sounds and leaving a melodious ringing to nearby ears.

At the same time, a dazzling white light exploded between the girl and the thief. It was only for a moment, but the light had temporarily blurred everyone's vision.

A different blade had clashed with the thief's sword, halting its strike.

Immediately after, there was a stern but rather sweet voice, soft enough that only Kou could hear.

"What are you doing?"

Kou's grin returned to his face, seemingly brighter than before. Yet, another person had stolen his attention.